Month 8 - Wells

Month 8: Baby!

Age: 8 months

Weight: 20ish lbs.

Major calendar events: Halloween, Thanksgiving

Milestones: Crawling, not super speedy yet but he's definitely on the move. I'll leave the room and when I come back he's not where I left him! Also, maybe giving kisses? Either that or he just thinks my face might be a boob...

Sleep: Sleeping in his own room, usually for about 11 - 12 hours or so. 

Likes: Cheerios/eating, snuggling, blowing bubbles and raspberries with his mouth, ringing this blue cow bell (it's his FAVORITE)

Best moment: I loved getting to take Wells to a special spot where a tree was planted in my grandpas honor

Eating: Still nursing 3-4 times per day and also eating solids a little more consistently now - mostly banana and sweet potatoes

Trick or Treating!

Visiting my grandpas tree.

Sometimes having a big sister pays off.

Happy man!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Potty Training

POTTY TRAINING!!! Now that our angel has officially been potty trained for a YEAR (what?!) let’s talk about it! Over the last 12 months, I have had a lot of people asking about when I would post about this and now that I have realized how much time has actually passed… it’s time!

Heidi was potty trained by 18 months old (November 2015). There is a lot of talk about potty training “too early” or “waiting until they are ready”, but for us the pros of at least trying early outweighed the cons significantly. I didn’t want to wait for many reasons. These are my personal reasons why I do feel like 18 months was a good age for us to start – 1. At that age, potty training isn't some sort of power struggle. We never had to resort to bribes, rewards, sticker charts, negotiations, her using it to manipulated us, etc. At least for Heidi, it was just something that you did and that was that. (Not saying that those tools are bad or unhelpful, but we wanted just to keep it simple without them.)  2. Obviously, it is much more convenient (well, usually) to eliminate the need for diapers. Although, it isn't always the most convenient when you're somewhere without a potty, or standing in a really long line or just sat down to eat at a restaurant and suddenly it's bathroom time haha!) 3. I don't know about you, but the less poopy diapers I have to change in my life the better. I personally have ZERO desire to change big nasty toddler diapers. 4. Lastly, I really wanted to have Heidi out of diapers before Wells was born. Only having 1 kid in diapers at a time sounds like a good plan for us and our family.

All of this being said, I also knew that she was old enough to “get it”. Our girl is very bright, has always been extremely communicative and can really comprehend so much. (And honestly, I often feel like we underestimate the intelligence and comprehension abilities of our children at that age.) I knew she already understood the concept, since we had kind of dipped our toes in with using the potty (more on this below). I didn’t feel like we were forcing it or pushing it on her too early – especially since she had been “using” the toilet for a while. It was never a negative thing, no pressure surrounding it so I also felt like we wouldn’t be scarring her or causing any sort of negative feelings or fear towards using the potty that young, whether successful or not. EVERY child and family is different, and no one knows your child better than you! You make the choice when you feel like you and your child are ready.

Here’s how we did it, and how we will continue to encourage early potty training with all of our future kids.

I had always been curious about early potty training. When Heidi was born (or maybe even before she was born) I started doing some research about elimination communication (“EC”)/early potty training and did some exploring on how to incorporate some of those techniques into our routine. 

When Heidi was an infant, she would consistently pee right at the beginning of bath time, so we started just holding her over the toilet before setting her in the tub. She didn’t seem to mind this and most nights she would go. I bought her a little potty (when she was around 6 months old maybe?) and I would usually set her on it during diaper changes and most of the time she would go! By the time she was 8 months, she was even pooping in the potty 75% of the time. It was awesome!! I don’t think that she was actually old enough to understand to hold it until she was sitting on the potty, and a lot of it WAS just chance that she was going. However, I TRULY feel like getting babies used to that feeling of pooping and peeing one the potty makes such a HUGE difference when it actually comes time to full on potty train. We will ALWAYS sit our babies on the potty starting at a young age, just to get them used to that feeling of releasing into something that’s not a diaper.

Once I started the weaning process with Heidi and she started drinking a lot more liquids, it was really difficult to keep up with how much she was peeing. So even though I would still sit her on the potty during diaper changes, she was usually already wet.

Then, once Heidi started walking (and was good-ish at it) I began to consider when to go all out with the potty training. I reached out to a moms group that I am a part of on Facebook, just to see if anyone else had had any success or personal experience with potty training prior to 1.5-2 years old. A friend in the group told me about the “3 Day Potty Training Method”. Without going into ALL of the details (#plagiarism y’all) essentially you lock yourself in the house for 3 days and power through. You dress the child in nothing but undies and a t-shirt (not naked – they need to “deal” with their mess and feel that feeling of being wet!) and then it’s go time. Rather than constantly asking “Do you have to go potty?” over and over, this method says to remind the child “Remember to tell Mommy if you have to go!” or “Don’t forget to tell Mommy when you have to go potty!” Accidents are also not a reason to “discipline”. It should not be a source of shame or like they did something wrong. You are not supposed to get mad or upset over the accident. If you have ever house trained a dog – this is pretty much the EXACT same thing! The goal is basically to catch the child IN the act of going and then move them to the potty to finish their business. Is it 3 solid days of cleaning up poop and pee out of undies and off of the floor? You betcha. Is it worth it?? TOTALLY. This method is SO effective and I highly recommend it.

A few other tips:
- Block off the WHOLE 3 days. Do not plan any outings or distractions. Put the phone down. Turn the TV off. 
- It helps to have as much help as possible throughout the 3 days. I started on a Friday, and then Ryan was home with me to help on Saturday and Sunday. This way, one person was able to move Heidi to the potty and clean her up while the other person cleaned up the accident.
- Also, as I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I do feel like allowing Heidi to experience going to the bathroom on a toilet early on truly helped her to be “ready” earlier than if we had never let her. 

This post wouldn’t be complete without a link to this FABULOUS method! (CLICK HERE!) There are obviously MANY more details, preparation tips and “procedures” included in the full eBook (which is $27 by the way – WORTH IT).  If you feel like you are ready to begin potty training I HIGHLY recommend purchasing as it will give you a better understanding and more comprehensive insight into all of the what, why and hows of potty training in 3 days.

Going potty in the car!

Month 7 - Wells

Month 7: Baby!

Age: 7 months

Weight: 20ish lbs.

Major calendar events: Overnight in San Antonio to celebrate Beau and Brooks' birthday

Milestones: Cut his first tooth! Not crawling quite yet but if he has enough time he can slowly work his way from point a to point b. We've also tried sitting on the little potty a few times (although nothing significant happens) and he also had his first few times on a swing

Sleep: Finally (consistently) sleeping through the night and still napping with mommy every day (#sorrynotsorry)

Likes: making loud grunting/growling noises, freeze dried apples, Starbucks cups and swinging

Worst moment: Well, this doesn't really have to do with Wells, but Ryan had to go out of town this month and the single mom thing is NOT a walk in the park!!

Eating: Still 99% breastfed, every 4-5 hours, and of course still spitting up. (When will it end?!) He has tried a few things, but just literally tasted them not really had too much yet (he gnawed on an apple slice, has tried a bite of wholly guacamole, just little things like that). At his 6 month check up, I did ask our pedi if it was nutritionally beneficial to begin solids and she said yes :(. I'm still kind of procrastinating and haven't really put much effort into getting him to eat a ton of solids, but I know I need to put forth a little more effort now. He definitely still seems totally content with nursing and doesn't act like he's not getting enough calories or anything like that, but I know it's time to get him more into solids. Boo!

Things I want to remember: How nice it is having a baby that isn't mobile yet ;).

Happy man!

Check up time!

Sometimes if you unlatch at the beginning of a nursing sesh you get sprayed in the face. Sorry bud...

Riding the train!

Wells the train conductor!

Trying some food and not too sure about this texture...

"What the heck?!"

Swingin'.

More swinging!

And MORE swinging! This dude loves to swing!

Photo op at Heidi's MDO.

My 1st Pumpkin Patch!

My two little loves.

Month 6 - Wells

Month 6: Baby!

Age: 6 months

Weight: 19 lbs. 1 oz

Major calendar events: A visit from Aunt Em and also attended a wedding

Milestones: Started sitting up on his own, got mad for the first time when I moved a toy away from his reach

Sleep: Started sleeping in his own room upstairs, but still waking up pretty consistently once to eat (boo)

Likes: Drooling, putting everything in his mouth, his sister, and for some reason he finds it really hilarious when I open and close blinds

Dislikes: Sleeping through the night

Best moment: Hmmm nothing specific comes to mind although probably something involving and interaction with Heidi - they both love each other so much and I love to see the way he looks at her!

Worst moment: Wells doesn't really have a lot of memorable or significantly bad moments

Eating: 100% breastfed, 4 times per day (roughly every 4-5 hours or so) and still spitting up all the time...hoping that will start to subside this next month! Also, now that he is 6 months it's getting to be about that time to start introducing solids. However, I don't quite feel ready for that emotionally yet! We might hold off a liiiitle bit longer before really going crazy with the solids, as long as he still seems to be getting enough nutrition from breastmilk. He is definitely showing interest in food, but I just want to make sure that we wait until it truly is necessary nutritionally to start him on solids. I'm not into "just for fun" when it comes to solid foods. We'll see. 

A few pictures...

One of Heidi's favorite things to do is give Wells ALL of the toys...whether he's awake or not!

So happy!

All the toys... again.

Be still my  heart!! 

Love my time with this little dude.

Big Sister Heidi

I thought I would write a short(ish) little post about how Heidi has adjusted to being a big sister and for those who are currently expecting baby #2 (or if you're just curious) a few things that we did to help her adjust to the change that I feel like made a difference. Obviously, personality plays a HUGE roll in how a toddler is going to adjust to adding a new family member, but I also believe that there are still a few things that we can do as parents to set them up for a successful transition... and maybe this makes a teeny tiny difference. Maybe not. Either way no one really has a choice heh heh. (Insert evil laugh.)

First of all, I will say that Heidi has done SO well with having a new baby brother. We really haven't had any jealousy issues, no increase in tantrums, she hasn't had any regression in being potty trained and still sleeps great... it has truly been a dream come true (and answered prayers for sure)! She loves him so much and she is so proud to be a big sister. The biggest issue we has was that I think Heidi started to get upset with being away from us. Clearly, she was not with us while we were in the hospital (except for a brief visit) and while Ryan & I were there she stayed with my in-laws. After 2 nights in the hospital, we came home with Wells and my in-laws brought Heidi back home. I think that if that had been the only time we had apart from her it would have been fine (as we have left her with my in-laws overnight countless times with zero issues) however, because Wells still had elevated bilirubin levels upon discharge, we had to take him to the doctor first thing in the morning. Long story short, it ended up being a HUGE wild goose chase and we ended up having to be going most of the day again. We came home late that afternoon, about the same time we had gotten home from the hospital the night before. Still at this point, everything seemed fine. Sometime within the next few days, my mother in law came back over to our house to visit and Heidi started freaking for no apparent reason. After a few minutes, we realized that it was probably because she thought that we were leaving her again. Once we came to that conclusion, we assured her that Mommy and Daddy weren't going anywhere and that we were all staying home. Once my mother in law left, Heidi was okay again (sorry Ryan's mom!!) That was literally the only freak out that she had over anything baby-related.

Before Wells' Arrival

Prior to bringing Wells home, we really talked up the baby thing. We tried to get a specific and simple as possible so that Heidi could understand as best as she could what was going to happen. We talked about how the baby will have eyes and a nose and fingers and toes. We encouraged her to think about what she would do when the baby was here - hold is hand, tickle his toes, give him his pacifier if he's crying, give him kisses on the cheek, etc. We also talked about different things that would happen once he was here - how he would cry sometimes, how he will need his diaper changed, and so on. She liked talking about all of these things. She also (thankfully) got really into the baby doll thing while I was pregnant. Not all kids get into that, so I was grateful that she enjoyed it. We would take care of the baby doll, feed her, burp her (which Heidi found hilarious) rocked the baby to sleep and more. Heidi loved being a little mama to her baby doll, who's name was "Baby Dolly" (haha). We also bought the book "I am a Big Sister". Heidi is all about the books so she loved this.

After Wells' Came Home

Once Wells was at home, we really tried to stick to the "usual" routine as much as possible (at least as far as Heidi was concerned). Especially after her episode when my mother in law came over, I realized that just being WITH us for sure needed to be a priority. We tried to keep as MUCH as we could the same. For example, Ryan is usually the one to give Heidi a bath at night, so we made sure that didn't change. Now, I certainly was not capable of this after my birth with Heidi, but after Wells I felt very much okay (physically, emotionally, mentally...) going to the grocery store. 5 days postpartum I was pushing Heidi in a cart around the grocery store just like usual. Just the two of us. Taking time together while Ryan was still off of work was also a huge advantage. I took Heidi to our bi-monthly playgroup just the 2 of us as well. Just like normal. Taking time out for both Ryan and I to spend individually with Heidi (I think? I hope!) helped her with the transition and hopefully brought her comfort and helped to retain some sort of sense of normalcy. We also would try to take advantage of time with her whenever (if ever) Wells was napping or went to bed. We would let her stay up a little bit past her bedtime to spend some extra time with Mommy and Daddy. Even just making sure that we were being so intentional with our time with her when Wells WAS awake and chillin in his swing or pack n play.

I hope this is helpful to anyone else out there looking to ease into that transition when bringing baby home from the hospital! We have really enjoyed the transition from 1 to 2 and it really only took a few days before we felt like we had always had 2! I am so proud of Heidi for the big sister that she has become and for how well she has transitioned to adding a new member to our family. She has done better than I could have dreamed of and I love seeing how she loves him with her whole heart.

Meeting her new baby brother in the hospital. She was SO excited to hold him
and was so cute - she pointed out his eyes, and nose and his hat and
that he was blowing some spit bubbles haha.

Snuggles.

She loves holding him and most nights asks to hold him before bed.

She likes to participate in Wells' monthly photos. I usually let her have a turn
and then have her step out for Wells' turn. This is usually fairly peaceful as
long as she has her turn in the spotlight obvi.

More hugs and snuggles.

Holding hands haha! 

Letting Wells talk on the (play) phone.

He puts up with a lot.

She loves him. Too much sometimes. Tiny Toons Elvira style. But she loves him.

Month 5 - Wells

Month 5: Baby!

Age: 5 months

Weight: 17ish lbs maybe? This is a total guess bc I forgot to weigh him...

Major calendar events: Engagement party for Aunt Jennifer and Uncle Sheldon!

Milestones: Went on our first run together, found his feet, he has started laughing and "talking" a lot more and even though he's been doing this for a while I finally witnessed him rolling over!

Sleep: 4 month sleep regression has NOT been nice to us. We had one solid month of amazing through-the-night sleeping, and then right when he turned 4 months old Wells started waking up again in the middle of the night. Usually once and usually to eat! It's been rough going back to the interrupted sleep every night thing, especially because I feel like we hadn't quite recovered from the initial lack of sleep that occurrs during the first 8-12 weeks. We definitely feel like it's still too early to let him cry it out, so for now he'll continue to get his "midnight" snack ;). 

Likes: His sister, smiling, the exersaucer, chewing on everything

Dislikes: Not much really...

Best moment: Obviously our first run together was one of my favorites, I'm so glad I finally actually SAW him roll over! And of course I love watching Heidi and Wells interact. I can tell by the way that he looks at her that he just loves her so much!

Eating: 100% breastfed every 3-4 hours and still spitting up EXCESSIVELY (but never seems to be bothered by it.)

Here are some pictures from this month!

Buddy couldn't quite make it through dinner...

Usual morning routine

Sitting on Baby Mitchell

Target run!

First run together!